


What do you mean we're out of milk

by TheLSpacer



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: HOPE Y'ALL ENJOY THIS ANYWAY, Lizard Kissin' Tuesday, Multi, SORRY THIS READS WEIRD IT LOOKED BETTER IN MY HEAD, Vaguely domestic fluff, fluff?, its okay nothing too bad happens lol, kind of?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-30
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2020-02-10 04:26:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18652876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLSpacer/pseuds/TheLSpacer
Summary: I'm Bad At Titles And Summaries: Exhibit AOf all the things to worry about, I picked 'hey is Rilla's house okay considering she's been gone for weeks?? It's not like she has an alarm system or a house-sitter or something'. (Spoiler warning: her house is not okay and the flowers panic a little)





	What do you mean we're out of milk

**Author's Note:**

> So like I said on tumblr this is my first go at writing rad bouquet fic and also my first attempt at writing domestic fluff of any kind (like ever), so apologies this one's a little short and awkward but hey I'm just getting it out of my system thanks for reading anyway!

Over the weeks following the battle at Fort Terminus, the three of them had spent most of their time in the Keep, and as such things go, had developed a routine, which started with them taking turns to make breakfast every morning. 

Rilla, Damien and Arum were gathered in kitchen (or at least, the room in the Keep that most resembled a kitchen). The weak early morning sunlight that filled the room illuminated shelves stocked with jars of jam, trays of vegetables and mushrooms, and baskets of fruit. There was a work bench in the middle of the room. Previously filled with clutter from Arum’s experiments, it had been mostly cleared out, save for a few odds and ends, to be replaced with a new sort of mess. Damien’s books and scrolls were piled high, and ink jars, quills and spare nibs had taken over a quarter of the table. Meanwhile, Rilla’s recorder, scientific journals and a lute she was in the process of constructing took up another quarter, as the three would sit together at the table, whiling away their lazy afternoons, each working on their own individual projects. 

As Rilla and Damien sleepily cleared the table to make way for breakfast, each handling their own treasures gingerly as they moved their mess to a corner of the room, they were shaken out of their morning reverie as Arum turned to face them from the pantry.

“We’re out of milk,” he announced. 

Ignoring the ensuing groans from his two (very petulant) humans, he carried on. “However, I don’t see this as much of a problem. After all, the pantry is still well-stocked with bread, fruit preserves and vegetables, all of which would make a perfectly acceptable breakfast.” 

“But no milk…” Damien’s voice, still thick from sleep, trembled slightly. 

“No milk means no coffee,” Rilla moaned. 

“Oh _please_. It’s not like you humans need coffee to survive.” “We do,” the two said in unison. 

“Well then, you’ll just have to drink your coffee without the milk. Now that that’s settled-“ 

“-but on it’s own, coffee is just bitter liquid! The milk adds flavour and body to an otherwise mediocre stimulant! Without it, coffee becomes undrinkable, and without coffee, our meal becomes incomplete,” Damien insisted, now fully awake. 

“So you’re saying… no milk means no coffee. No coffee means no breakfast.” 

“That’s exactly what we’re saying,” Rilla sat herself down at the empty table, pointedly ignoring Arum’s inevitable mutterings of “damn humans” and “inconvenient diets”, instead looking at Damien with pleading eyes. 

“All right then. It seems we have no other choice. Keep, open a portal to Rilla’s hut, and make sure no one else is nearby to see. I suppose we’ll have to do our shopping a little earlier than anticipated this week.” Damien ran hastily back to their bedroom, changing out of his sleepwear, as the Keep sang in acquiescence, the walls shifting to form an entryway back into the human world. 

“Wait! Wait! Damn it all! I’m all out of money!” 

Hearing his shout, Rilla and Arum made their way to where Damien was standing in the hallway, tunic half-buttoned and an empty purse hanging from his outstretched hand. Rilla put a reassuring hand on his arm. “It’s all right, Damien. I’m sure there’s money at my place. We’ll just go check together!” 

“Make it quick,” Arum grumbled, “or I’m having breakfast without the two of you.” 

As the two ran off, Arum sat himself back down at the breakfast table, idly fiddling with Amaryllis’ recorder. 

It couldn’t have been more than a few minutes that passed this way, before his humans came dashing back through the portal.

“Back so soon? When I said I was going to eat without you, you know I didn’t _mean_ it.” 

“It- it’s not that…” Damien’s eyes are frantic, and Arum could hear his panicked breathing. His frill flared slightly in worry, and he quickly made his way over to where the two were standing. 

“My hut- it got robbed!” Rilla exploded. 

“ _What?!_ ” Arum snarled, longing for the reassuring weight of his knives he knew he had put away, having had no use for them in weeks. “When did it happen? Which miserable human did it? I swear I’ll tear their limbs off if-“ 

“-calm down, Arum. They only took my money and some of my jewelry. Most of my plants and experiments are intact. I mean.” She scoffed. “It’s not like anyone else is interested in a herbalist’s work, but-” 

“They took her backup recorders, too,” Damien finished. “The Queen had stationed guards to keep watch over her house in the wake of,” he cast an apprehensive look at Arum, who waved an unconcerned hand, “the kidnapping. I suppose during the chaos wreaked by the fear monster, the guards decided that some things weren’t worth protecting.” 

“I guess I should be grateful they didn’t take anything _too_ valuable. Money can be made, jewelry can be bought, but those recorders… they were a secret between Marc and I. We were planning on improving them together and releasing them to citizens eventually but now…” 

Arum sighed. “I understand, Amaryllis. Come here. The both of you.” They stepped into his welcoming embrace and he wrapped his arms around them as they burrowed their faces in his chest.“If only I thought to secure your house before leaving for Ballast…” Damien’s voice was muffled, but both Arum and Rilla could hear it shaking. “I knew that your house had been broken into just hours before, but I was so worried about you that I didn’t _think_ , and then the Queen summoned me on another mission before I could even catch my breath, and _oh Saints_ your home had been broken into and you were kidnapped and I shouldn’t have trusted those guards I didn’t.. I couldn’t-“ 

“Hush now, Honeysuckle. Hush. Breathe.” Arum’s hand made small, reassuring circles around Damien’s back, as he felt the human’s frantic breathing slow. “If anything, the fault is mine. I broke into your home and took you away, Rilla. I should’ve thought that an abandoned hut with a door hanging open was practically an invitation for all manner of thieves and burglars. And now the fate of your creation is uncertain because of my stupidity. I’m… I”m sorry.” 

“I think you’d know I’m lying if I said I knew things were gonna be okay,” Rilla said grimly. “But I hope It’s nothing some time and luck wouldn’t be able to fix. Who knows? Maybe the person who took it just wanted to sell the shiny thing for parts. Besides.” She looked up at him with a slight grin. “You didn’t know me back then, did you?”

“And if I did, I wouldn’t have heard the end of it from you. Either that, or the Keep would’ve made me return and fix what I had broken.” 

At the Keep’s agreeing hum, the three of them chuckled. As one, they disentangled from the embrace, Damien giving Arum a small peck on the corner of his mouth before letting go of his hand, relishing in the look of confusion on the lizard’s face. He could have sworn that if Arum were capable of blushing, his green scales would’ve been flushed bright red. 

“What was that for?!” 

“That was a thank you. For helping me remain calm.” “You’re.. It’s.. I did nothing,” he huffed. 

“And Arum.” 

“Yes?” “You don’t need to blame yourself either. We’ve all erred in the past. As long as we recognise our mistakes and make them right.” 

“Of course I know that, my ever-righteous poet,” he replied, not unkindly. “I do hope that matters will work out…okay, as Amaryllis said.” 

“But if they don’t?” This question came from Rilla. Downcast, toying with the recorder on the table with her hands.

“Then we’ll work it out together.” 

As Damien lent an extra pair of hands to Arum’s two, preparing their breakfast, sans-coffee, and as Rilla hummed in harmony with the Keep while she waited, the three (or four, if sentient plants counted) knew that that would always hold true, no matter how uncertain the future appeared to be.

**Author's Note:**

> Aaaand that's it. Have a good lizard kissin' everyone!!


End file.
